1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to break-open firearms of the take-down type, and in particular it relates to an improved fore end assembly for such firearms.
2. Prior Art
Broadly, the term "break-open take-down firearm" includes all firearms that have one or more barrels releasably mounted on the frame or receiver of the firearm, the barrel or barrels being rotatable from their closed and locked ready-to-fire position to their open loading-and-unloading position, and return, as required by the shooter. Such firearms are designed so that they can be diassembled into two or more parts or subassemblies (for example, a barrel assembly, a stock assembly and a fore end assembly) for convenience in cleaning, storing and transporting the firearm, and they include single and double barreled rifles and shotguns and combinations thereof (including both side-by-side and over-and-under types).
In break-open take-down firearms of the type to which the present invention relates the barrel assembly is releasably mounted on the forward end of the frame which advantageously comprises a part of the stock assembly, and the fore end assembly is releasably secured to the underside of the barrel assembly. The fore end assembly comprises a wooden fore end stock having a channel-shaped transverse cross section, a metal latch plate removably secured to the bottom wall of the fore end stock, and latch means mounted on the latch plate for releasably securing the fore end assembly to the underside of the barrel assembly. The bottom wall of the fore end stock is formed with a latch plate receiving opening, and the latch plate is provided with a latch mechanism portion that is received in the latch plate receiving opening of the fore end stock. The latch plate is normally secured to the inner surface of the fore end stock by one or more screws and, advantageously, by the mutual engagement of matching arcuate surfaces located at the rearward ends of the fore end stock and the latch plate.
When the firearm is fired, the recoil of the barrel assembly and the opposing inertial forces of the fore end assembly cause the rearward end of the latch mechanism portion of the latch plate to impact heavily against the abutting rearward surface of the latch plate receiving opening of the fore end stock. Accordingly, to minimize possible damage to these parts, the latch mechanism portion of the latch plate should fit snugly in the latch plate receiving opening formed in the bottom wall of the fore end stock. To facilitate this snug fit the abutting end surfaces of the latch mechanism portion and the latch plate receiving opening have heretofore had a smoothly contoured arcuate configuration (for example, a semi-cylindrical configuration) at both the forward and rearward ends thereof. However, although this practice ensures a snug initial fit of the engaged parts, repeated firing with consequent repeated impact of the convex arcuate rearward surface of the latch mechanism portion of the latch plate against the concave arcuate rearward surface of the latch plate receiving opening of the wooden fore end stock subjects the wooden fore end stock to transverse rending or tearing forces which tend eventually to cause the wood to split or crack at this point. The resulting damage to the fore end stock not only disfigures the stock but, in extreme cases, may require replacement of this part.
The metal latch plate has heretofore commonly been made up of a number of separate metal parts that either must be fitted together before being fastened to the wooden fore end stock or are fastened separately to the fore end stock. The multiple parts of the metal latch plate complicate the assembly and disassembly of the fore end sub-assembly and tend to increase the difficulty in preventing damage to the wooden fore end stock when the firearm is fired. After an intensive investigation of this and related problems, I have found that damage to the fore end stock caused by the impact of the metal latch plate thereagainst when the firearm is fired can be substantially completely eliminated by constructing the latch plate in one integral piece and by providing transversely disposed planar, as opposed to curved, abutting surfaces at the principal point of impact of the one-piece metal latch plate against the wooden fore end stock.